FACING CHALLENGES EFFECTIVELY

It is ever so easy to practice the principles positive thinking and so forth, when things are going along peacefully and well.  But things are much different when we are presented with a serious challenge.  Things can turn to turbulence and confusion in a matter of minutes.  But is precisely then, that the principles we are taught and all know so well, become so critical to implement.

Even the highest of souls can be thrown off balance by a piece of devastating or frightening news, a bad spat with a spouse or child, an accident, or any number of untoward experiences.  There is a saying, in the East, that a person’s true depth of character and evolution can be judged by how fast they can return to their center.  What this means is that even a great “guru” or “Buddha” or Christlike Saint can be entirely disturbed and disrupted by an unpleasant or frightening or threatening experience.  The question is not whether they will experience the same kind of pain that you and I experience–they will, to be sure–but how fast they can work themselves back into a state of peace of mind.

It seems to me, that life is constructed almost purposefully, mostly by ourselves we believe, as a kind of “obstacle course” to test our abilities, to provide opportunities for growing stronger, and to build our degree of faith in that which is higher than our small egos.

It’s really a bear sometimes, isn’t it?  Sometimes I read blithe self help books that seem to be written by people who have never experienced any significant  true adversity, financial danger, disease or pain, or familial problems.  They give the impression that they lead charmed lives because of the principles they espouse.  But I know many of these authors and speakers personally, and can tell you will absolute certainty that they all have the same childish arguments with their teens and spouses, the same doubts and fears, and the same pain that everyone else has. I would like to share the following points that I have found most useful to get me through my darkest hours.

1) KNOW THIS FIRST: Pain, disease, or failure, in any area of your life does not automatically mean that you have done something “wrong.” One of the most irritating things I find people of our ilk doing when someone else is experiencing say, a disease like cancer, is to “blame” that person, saying something like, “Oh, that person has created that for themselves.  They must have been eating wrong, or thinking wrongly, or doing something else inferior.”   Nothing could be farther from the truth.  In my experience, some of the very very highest souls experience the most adversity, the most challenge, the most problems.  The way I look at it is that they have created these challenges because they are courageous enough to go through these “courses,” if you will, and master them–in spite of the fact that they are extraordinarily painful and difficult.  NEVER judge yourself, and especially anyone else [super co-dependent], for having a problem.  That only compounds the problem and makes it difficult to get back to your center gracefully and with reasonable speed and efficiency.  When you judge yourself as having created an untoward experience in life, you are then dealing with two problems instead of one.  Try, if you can, to have compassion for yourself, to respect the courage it took to set up that experience and to know that no matter how bleak things look, there must be the strength and wisdom within you to overcome and be a winner some how in some way.

2)  Redouble your efforts to SEE things as you would like them to be.  NO MATTER WHAT “FACTUAL” DATA YOU SEE BEFORE YOU AS “REALITY,” KNOW THAT YOU ALWAYS, ALWAYS, HAVE THE POWER AS A HUMAN BEING TO SEE SOMETHING HIGHER, SOMETHING BETTER. Seeing things as healed and peaceful is incredibly powerful.  You know that of course.  We all do.  But when you are really thrown off balance and feel like the whole Universe has conspired to ruin your life, realize that it IS within your power to SEE something higher, something better, something more healthy, more prosperous, more peaceful.  This act of SEEING is absolutely necessary to provide the Universe, which you know full well responds to your thoughts with precision, a map, a plan, a path with which to proceed.  THIS IS IMPERATIVE TO DO IMMEDIATELY!!!!

3)  Whenever in doubt, I always resort to what I call the “Two G’s:”  Generosity and Gratitude. Either alone, practiced perfectly, will enable you to overcome any problem. Sometimes, when we are overwhelmed, we get confused.  There are so many things we have been taught to do, that we don’t know where to start.  Start by first SEEING things as though they were already healed, then proceed directly to Generosity. Generosity is the thought process behind the ACT of Giving.  And giving, whether that be a simple call to an old friend or family member you have not forgiven or who looks up to you, or a few dollars to a worthy charity, cleaning out your closet so that you can get a bag of clothes ready for the Salvation Army–any of these things will immediately begin to heal your situation.

4)  COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS. Sure, super simple, super obvious, right?  But I can tell you from personal experience that many many “highly evolved” teachers I have known fail to do this when the going gets really rough.  It’s just too darn hard.  And you don’t feel like doing it.  You feel like, well…feeling bad.  But actually WRITING DOWN, on a simple piece of paper, all, and I mean ALL the great things you already have, has been proven by numerous scientific studies to increase mood, stability, strength, energy, and peace of mind.  Just keep reminding yourself of that big old principle we all know so very well:  Whatever you concentrate upon in this life, will expand. For example, if you have a disease, think of all the parts of your body which ARE healthy and concentrate on them, be grateful for them.  If you are suffering financial adversity, check out the statistics on world poverty on Google. Shoot, only about half the people in the world even have running water in their houses, much less warm water.  We are all VERY wealthy here in the USA.  Concentrating on what you have will make THAT expand.  It is a law of life that is imperative to honor at all times.  If you don’t…beware.

5)  PRAY.  But don’t necessarily petition Spirit to change things the way you want them to be.  Instead, consider thanking Spirit for what you have and saying the so called Serenity Prayer. Over and over and over if necessary.  No one knows where it came from exactly, and it is hardly exclusive property of the Twelve Step groups.  It is for everyone and arguably the single wisest three sentences a human being can utter.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Grant me the courage to change the things I can,

And Grant me the wisdom to know which is which.  [Note: If you still can't tell, the universal default mode is that you can NOT change the thing you are thinking about]

So many times, I have watched hopeless things heal when true acceptance is reached.  Acceptance brings serenity, peace of mind. And the Universe responds to this. And sometimes, the situation you find yourself facing, is something you set up in order to give you the opportunity, to practice acceptance.  So, once you achieve it, the situation is no longer necessary, and dissipates back into the realm of the unmanifest.

Thank you for listening.  And I really mean that.  Know that you are a perfect child of God and that it is your birth right to have happiness and the abundance that is your Father/Mother Spirit.  You are a good person.  No, you are a GREAT person.  And no matter what is happening around you, you have a huge amount to be thankful for.  Switching your thoughts from your woes and self-pity, however well justified, to Giving and Gratitude, will immediately begin to soften the rock solid “reality” of the problem you are experiencing and begin to allow the miraculous to germinate, perhaps underground where you cannot see it, but begin to grow nonetheless.  Have FAITH.  For “For even a grain of Faith can move mountains.”

Hey, I didn’t make that up.  You don’t need to believe me.  Or even yourself.  Consider the sources.  All great teachers of the worlds great spiritual traditions have said this in one way or another.  Because it is absolutely true.  And this stuff really works, right now, today, on the very problem you are facing as you read.

So many blessings to your and yours,

Dr.  Todd